A hoped-for surplus never materialized, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was forced to scramble to balance the state budget, six months before he faces voters for re-election.

A hoped-for surplus never materialized, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was forced to scramble to balance the state budget, six months before he faces voters for re-election. (John Woike / Hartford Courant)

The age of the Connecticut state employee suggestion box has ended. That was the notorious device Gov. Dannel P. Malloy used to balance a nearly $200 million gap budget gap in 2011. No one ever explained what the valuable suggestions were.

With revenues tumbling from Malloy's February budget and re-election campaign speech, the governor's $500 million surplus disappeared and was hovering over red ink. He had to find a budget-balancing gimmick that didn't include breaking out the elusive suggestion box, so a $75 million tax reclamation mission appeared from the Department of Revenue Services. None of the usual nonpartisan analysts could verify it, but the state's legislative Democrats clicked their heels three times and decided to believe.

There may be some cleaning up required in 2015 if revenues from the real world don't make up for those appropriated from the land of pretend. The lasting damage, however, is what Malloy inflicted on himself six months before voters go to the polls. This is the sort of thing he vowed he would not do. He was no Jodi Rell, his Republican predecessor whose budget-making philosophy at the end was to cross her fingers and sigh in the crunch. Rell, however, possessed a gentle public persona that voters embraced through her 61/2 years as governor.

This erosion of Malloy's image comes at an inconvenient time, as some important and reliable Democratic constituencies try to sort out their expectations of who they thought they were supporting in 2010 and who Malloy has turned out to be on the issues most important to them.

Enter Democratic political operative and former state Rep. Jonathan Pelto of Storrs. Pelto, whom I've known for many years, has in recent years combined his knowledge of political campaigns with an intense interest in public education policy. He knows his way around Democratic interest groups and enjoys a close relationship with some leaders at a variety of levels.

Pelto became more deeply involved with public school teachers and other education advocates during Malloy's 2012 assault on the teaching profession. Many teachers still wince at Malloy's claim that to gain tenure all a teacher has to do is show up for at school for a few years. Expect to hear that repeated often in the next six months.

Pelto could decide to engage in a public testing of Malloy mouthpiece Roy Occhiogrosso's December 2010 surly declaration, "No one cares what Jonathan Pelto thinks." This is a strain of public arrogance that makes an impression with its target and his allies. Connecticut's convoluted election laws make it nearly impossible to challenge Malloy in a party primary, but it's easy to get on the November ballot as a petitioning candidate by collecting around 8,000 verified signatures.

Connecticut has a history of giving large numbers of votes to candidates outside the two major parties. From Bridgeport Socialist Jasper McLevy in 1938 through Sen. Joseph Lieberman in 2006, Connecticut voters have shown a taste for candidates running outside the usual two-party competition. In 1994, former Republican state Sen. Tom Scott made an independent bid for governor that netted him 130,000 votes with the benefit of little money.

Many teachers are looking for an alternative to Malloy. Pelto could be their voice and vessel. There are more opportunities to find supporters. The administration's regime at the Board of Regents may declare all standards have been obliterated by making outgoing state Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams president of Quinebaug Valley Community College. Faculty members, administrators and students will become more restive with Malloy. Many are ready to bolt; their decision will have been made for them.

The unexpected bonus for Pelto is that if the next governor is a Republican, he will have taught establishment Democrats a potent lesson about what policies many party members value. He will also find that a new governor will be receptive to some elements of his public education-centered message. Successful minority party governors like Republicans William Weld of Massachusetts and George Pataki in New York must synthesize a broad spectrum of ideas if they are to govern. A Republican governor of Connecticut will never spit the sentence, "No one cares what Jonathan Pelto thinks."

Kevin Rennie is a lawyer and a former Republican state legislator. He can be reached at kfrennie@yahoo.com.